Matt. 25:34-40 (ESV) Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.
What does God expect of us as Christians? Most of us pray and read our Bibles regularly. We attend church and give money to God’s work. We may even share our faith with someone at work or, at least they know we’re Christians. What does God fully expect of us, though? Is this all?
In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus gives us three parables about expectations, His expectations of us. He tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins, then the Parable of the Talents, and last of all, He speaks directly about His expectations of His people when He returns at the final judgment. He expects us to have reached out to our fellow man.
I found this quote on expectations at the Billy Graham site and thought it was great: “What God expects, and all God expects, is that we dedicate completely all of our talents and gifts to Him.”
“All our talents and gifts,” that’s a tall order, isn’t it, but so true. Anything less is to set aside God as a secondary priority where we pray, give, go to church, and read our Bible as more of a daily habit to which we dedicate very little of our time.
This whole subject got me to thinking of time and just what God always expects of us. Here are twelve “alwayses” I found: we are to always fear God (Deut 5:29), always obey Him (Deut. 11:1), always set the Lord before ourselves (Ps. 16:8), Give thanks for your fellow Christians always (1 Cor. 1:4), always abounding in God’s work (1 Cor. 15:58), give thanks always (Eph. 5:20), we will not be ashamed but courageous (Phil. 1:20), Rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4), always speak graciously (Col. 4:6), always seek to do good to everyone (1 Thess. 5:15), always fulfill your ministry (2 Tim. 4:5), and always be prepared to defend the faith and answer questions (1 Peter 3:15).
Why is this important?
There are other expectations such as giving, church service we need to work on as well. Don’t get discouraged, though. Like so many things God asks of us, this list is impossible to fulfill, we’ll never be able to remember, let alone, do all these things. How can God expect this of mere humans? It turns out there are a couple of more alwayses that apply: Jesus is always with us (Matt. 28:20), and He always leads us (2 Cor. 2:14). He is the power behind us as we seek to fulfill His alwayses. The Spirit that lives within us will produce these things the more we yield to His will.
There’s a story about John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church. When he was asked how much he prayed every day, he said he prayed three hours on a normal day but for five hours on a busy day. Let prayer be the start and continual priority of your day, and you’ll be surprised how much God can do through you to further His kingdom. God works through His children. Pay attention, and you will recognize many of the alwayses appearing in your life as you seek the heart of God.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 